


Currents

by 1307



Series: Domestic AU [2]
Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:16:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3681102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1307/pseuds/1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The chaptered version of Domestic AU.<br/>This is basically a day-by-day look at domestic!Juice and domestic!Chibs plus all of their domesticated friends.<br/>Tags will be added as I go because I am lazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yosemite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Madison -- the truest magnificant creature to exist](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Madison+--+the+truest+magnificant+creature+to+exist).



> I'll be adding tags as I go, so fear not if it looks a little bland right now; at least two new characters will be added in next chapter. 
> 
> I know this is a little slow and probably a little boring, but hopefully that will change as we get going.

Only one place even came close to the hatred Filip felt for Yosemite. It wasn’t that he hated nature (although once you’ve seen one mountain, you’ve basically seen them all) it was the kind of people. Filip was a proud extrovert, throw him in a room and he’d leave with at least two friends, people didn’t exhaust him. It was the type of people that Yosemite attracted; rude, full of themselves, and just generally awful.

“Dad? What about this?” Kerrianne asks as she holds up a flowy, dusty pink shirt. “Cute?”

“You know I’m not an expert on fashion, Ker.” 

The second place on his list of hatred was the mall. And the people that occupied Yosemite and the mall were essentially the same kind of people. 

“I wasn’t really asking you if you thought it was cute, it was more a like ‘if I try this on and like it, can I get it’ type of question.”

“We’ll see.” Filip sighs as he takes the shirt and adds it the already huge pile Kerrianne had acquired within ten minutes of walking into the store. He couldn’t really be mad, Kerrianne had donated at least eighty percent of her wardrobe to Venus’ shelter when Filip asked her to gather a few things. She said that she wanted to reinvent her style for her sophomore year and gave nearly all of her clothes from Filip’s and a majority from Fiona’s. He and Fiona made a deal and somehow he got the pleasure of taking Kerrianne to the mall. He wasn't sure what Fiona was taking her to do, probably some Zen bullshit to prepared her for the _oh so_ traumatic tenth grade.

Juan was supposed to come with them today but got stuck editing photos for a wedding he did last week, apparently there was some big computer issue and he couldn’t do it until today. As much as Filip missed having Juan to help him through the tortuous process of taking his teenage daughter shopping, he kind of liked having the one-on-one time with Kerrianne.

Kerrianne holds up another shirt and Filip nearly falls over. “That’s a little revealing, don’t you think?” The top was white and it covered her up pretty well, but it was low-cut and the fabric had the appearance of being sheer.

“Is not? There’s fabric right here.” 

“I don’t know Ker, it’s pretty low-cut.” Filip stops for a minute, remembering who is daughter is. “Please don’t go off on one of your feminist rants, it’s not because you shouldn’t be able to wear what makes you comfortable, it’s because there are creepy guys at your school.” And kind of because he hated the idea of his baby in anything less than a turtleneck. 

Kerrianne stares at him, her eyebrows raised. “Can I at least try it on? Then you can tell me no.” 

“Fine, give it here.” 

Filip watches as Kerrianne wanders to the back of the store and it’s like he’s watching someone else’s life. Kerri had grown so much over the summer; she was now 5’7” and had golden tips in her hair. She was more mature most of the time. He wasn’t really sure what was happening, but it scared him a little. Soon she was probably going to get a boyfriend (or girlfriend, Filip and Fiona didn't really care), and from there it was just going to be an acceleration of firsts and heartbreak on all fronts. 

He follows her to the back of the store, attempting to shift the pile of clothes as he went; his arm was getting tired from the weight. 

“Da, doesn’t this look like the dress momma’s wearing in that picture I have of you two?” Kerrianne holds the dress up to her and smiles. “The color’s different but it’s the same style.” 

Filip knew the picture she was talking about, he and Fiona were around nineteen, it was taken a month or two after they met. They were in a basement in Dungloe, Fiona’s hair was curlier than ever and Filip had (regrettably) the longest hair he had ever had. He’s pretty sure that’s the night Fiona got knocked up, but that was something he kept to himself. Kerrianne loved that photo, she had a copy at Fiona’s and a copy at his place, both in frames. He really wished that she picked a more flattering picture of him. 

“Yeah, that looks like it.” It nearly was identical, it was a baby doll style with flowers all over it. Nineties inspired, no doubt. “Your mom’s was a little longer.” 

“I’ll wear leggings with it.” She smiles and hands it over. “I’ve been looking for one like that for _ages_ , dad.” 

Same old dramatic Kerrianne.

“You better.” 

“I think I’m finished in here, I just want to try everything on.”

\\\\\///

Judging by the clicking noise of an iphone keyboard and the giggles coming from inside the dressing room, Kerrianne was sharing her outfits with her friends. 

Filip sighed, they had been in this fucking mall for two hours now, three stores before this one, and Kerrianne still _needed_ to go to Bath and Body Works to get overpriced candles, it was life or death, after all. 

“Ker, come on.” He knocks on the door. “I’d like to get out of here before the mall closes.”

“Mall doesn’t close until nine, it’s only three.” She replies through the door. 

Filip sighs and grabs his phone out of his pocket so he could text Juan and tell him how awful waiting for teenage girls to try on clothes was. As he goes to put his passcode in, a call from _Family Services_ shows up.

Oh fucking hell. 

“Ker, I got a phone call, I’ll be outside, okay? Hurry up.”

“Whatever.”

Filip clicks accept and begins heading to the door. “Hello, is this Filip Telford?” 

“Yeah, this is he.” Filip finds a small alcove where a fire exit was and stands there, trying to get away from the noise of the obnoxious people walking from store to store. 

“This is Kelsey from the Department of Family Services, you’re on our foster list.”

“Yeah, me and my partner, Juan Ortiz, he’s the main number.”

“Yeah, we tried to call him, he didn’t answer, so we called you. Is that okay?”

“Yeah of course.”

“We have a child that needs a place to stay, are you able to take them? All I can give you right now is that it’s an eleven year boy and he has no signs of illness.” 

Filip really didn’t want to make this decision on his own. “Can I call Juan and then call you back?”

“Of course.” Filip sighs in relief. “Just make sure you call back within the hour.”

“Oh, yeah, I will. Thanks.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Telford.” 

Filip hangs up and leans against the wall. He decides to go with calling Juan’s work phone because the chance of answering would be higher.

“Hey Filly.” 

Filip sighs into the phone, he hated that nickname but Juan insisted. “Hey.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Family Services called.” 

Juan breathes in sharply. “What’d they say?”

“They have a kid for us, they tried calling you but you didn’t answer, so they called me.” 

“Fuck.” Juan sighs. “My phone’s dead, I forgot to charge it on the way to work.”

“I put a charger in your bag last week.”

“I know, but I lost it.” Juan chuckles a bit but Filip can’t decide if it’s because he’s nervous or he really finds losing a charger hilarious. Knowing him, it was a combination of both.

“Probably under the seat in your car.” That’s where everything else was. 

“Probably.” Juan sighs. “So about this kid, what happens?”

“They didn’t give me any information except it’s an eleven year old boy, privacy and all that. I told her I wanted to call you first, make sure it was alright.”

“Of course it’s alright.” 

“You want me to call her back? What if she wants to drop the kid off while you’re not at home?”

“It’s an eleven year old boy, not a pack of wild dogs. You’ll be fine.” 

“By myself?”

“Yeah, Filly, I can’t leave work, you know how deadlines are.” Filip knew all about how deadlines were, the constant rants he was on the receiving end of when Juan got home told him all he needed to know. 

“Okay, I’ll call her back.”

“You’ll be fine, I’ll try to get off early.”

Filip sighs. “Yeah, okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Juan says back sweetly. “Call me when you get home.” 

“Alright.”

\\\\\/// 

Filip hangs up the phone and heads back into the store, moving passed the people standing in the way, and makes a beeline to the dressing room. He could hear Kerrianne talking when he got there. 

“Ker, hey, kiddo, we’ve got to go.”

“I’m not done.”

“Grab what you want, okay, we need to leave. Family Services called, they’re dropping the kid off in an hour and a half; we have to leave now.” 

“What kid?” She asks, slightly surprised.

“The foster kid.”

Kerrianne sighs and mumbles ‘I’ve got to go’ to her friend on the phone. “Okay give me a couple minutes to get dressed.”

“I’m not kidding, Ker.” He sighs, he loved his daughter but sometimes she did things just to piss him off. “Give me the clothes you’re wanting, I’ll go get in line.” 

“Okay.” 

Filip waits a minute before the door opens and pile is extended to him. “That’s it.” Kerrianne tells him through the door. 

Thankfully the pile wasn’t as tall as it was when she went in, the dress she found was on the top. “I mean it, if you’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming back here.”

“Oh my god, dad. Chill.” She sighs through the door. 

\\\\\///

 _Fate don't fail me now_  
And when the days that followed past, in another mansion built to last  
From our window we could see only possibilities  
Down the road and back, but then the storm returned for more  
In a comedown of revolving doors 

Filip tapped his fingers along with the drumbeat as he drove, Kerrianne was mumbling along to the words as she quickly texted on her phone.

“You’re still okay with this, right?” He asks, just wanting some conversation.

She shrugs. “Guess so, not like I have a choice now.”

“Of course you do, Ker.” He looks over at her briefly. “Juan and I told you…”

“If I totally hate it you’d ‘re-evaluate your options’,” She sighs. “I know.”

“Okay, then what’s the matter?”

“I just wanted to spend time with you, that’s all.” 

“Ker,” Filip was actually kind of touched.

“Don’t start crying.” She teases. 

\\\\\///

“So why isn’t Juan here?” Kerrianne asks as she walks into the kitchen. Filip had a chair from the table pulled up the fridge and the garbage can next to him.

“He’s working.” Filip just had to do _something_ , his anxious Celt blood was getting to him.

“So you’re cleaning out the fridge?”

Filip turns around. “Yes, Kerrianne.” He looks at his daughter, she was in her running clothes. “Where are you going?”

“Thought I’d get a run in before you and Juan make me do lame family building exercises.” 

Filip knew of those lame family building exercises all too well, the classes they took over the summer to get qualified were full of them. Kerrianne had to join in sometimes since she’d be living in the house. “Juan promised me we didn’t have to do anymore of those.”

“Just because he told you that doesn’t mean it’s true.” Kerrianne smiles. “Remember when he told you that you’d like quinoa? And then proceeded to make dinner with it every night for a week?”

“That word is banned from this house, Kerrianne Ranae.” 

She laughs, not realizing her father was being dead serious. “I’ll be back in thirty.”

“What if the kid gets here while you’re gone?” 

“He’ll survive.” 

But Filip might not. “Okay.” 

\\\\\///

There’s a knock on the door when Filip is cleaning the kitchen island for the eighth time. He takes a deep breath and makes his way to the front door. Kerrianne was still out running and Juan was still at work (he had called Filip and told him that he should be home within the hour). It wasn’t soon enough. 

When he opened the front door, the lady was not what he was expecting. She was younger, mid-twenties, and had her dark hair pulled into a loose bun. “Mr. Telford?” She asks.

“That’s me.” Filip looks and sees a boy standing next to her. His dark, muddy hair hung shapeless around his prepubescent features. He had light freckles that went across his nose and blue eyes. He had on a blue tattered hoodie that was a size too big and hung off his small frame, in his left hand was small backpack that looked like it had seen better days. 

“This is Brandon.” 

“Hi, Brandon.” Filip smiles. “Would you like to come in? We have a dog.” 

Brandon nods a little. No one can resist a dog, at least that’s what Tig says. 

\\\\\///

The meeting goes quickly and Filip gets a lot of information, including about two hundred forms basically saying that he and Juan are Brandon’s guardians until his mother gets out of jail. 

He wished Juan was here to ask all of the questions he knew he was forgetting. 

There was so much they to do in such a short time. Make a doctor’s appointment, enroll him in school, they had a meeting at the Women’s facility in two weeks with Brandon’s mother and a slew of other people. Luckily Filip had put his thinking cap on and wrote that date down on the calendar. He had also showed Brandon where his room was, he wanted to wait until Juan was home to give him the full tour, partly because he knew Juan wanted to join in on the house tour. The part was that Filip was pretty sure Brandon had no idea what he was saying most of the time, whenever he’d start to speak, Brandon would furrow his eyebrows like he was concentrating. Filip understood, even Juan had trouble understanding him sometimes. 

Just as Alice was leaving, the front door opened and Juan cautiously entered. Filip would’ve laughed had it been any other time, the way Juan kind of looked like a deer in headlights. 

“Hey.” Filip watches as Juan places his messenger bag on the hook next to the door. 

“Hi.” 

“This is Alice from Family Services.” 

When Juan walks over to the couch, he shakes her hand and mumbles a nervous ‘nice to meet you’, it’s the total opposite of what Filip was expecting Juan to act like. 

“I was just telling Filip that if either of you have any questions to go ahead and call me.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Juan nods. “I’m sure you’ll be getting at least one call this week.” 

“It’s what I’m here for.” She smiles. “Like I was telling Filip, don’t expect him to tell his life story, boys especially, and at his age, aren’t known for their chattiness. I’ll get going, give you some time to spend with him.” 

“I’ll show you out.” Filip smiles and gets off the couch, pressing a kiss to Juan’s cheek as he passes him. 

\\\\\///

“I need a whole case of beer.” Juan sighs as he leans against the counter, Filip had just finished filling him on Brandon’s situation. “I didn’t think I’d be this nervous.”

Filip gives him a small smile. “He’s not a pack of wild dogs.” 

Juan rolls his eyes, mad that Filip even brought that up because now the roles were reversed. “Okay we need a plan.” 

“A plan?” Filip asks.

He nods. “Yeah, let him pick where we go for dinner maybe? Kids like food, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah. That’s good.” Filip knew his partner was nervous, so he decided not to comment on Juan’s ridiculous plan and instead walked over and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling him closer. Juan wrapped his arms around Filip’s waist and tried not to cry. He had wanted this for so long; the start of their familial journey, but now he was shaking on the inside and suddenly wanted to crawl into his bed and let Filip handle it until he worked up enough confidence. “You worry too much, Juan Carlos.” Filip whispers and presses a kiss to the shaved hair on the side of his head. “We’re going to be fine, it’s going to be fine. I love you.” 

Juan nods against Filip’s chest and mumbles something against the fabric of his t-shirt that Filip was going to assume was a reciprocation of his feelings. 

“Filip?” 

Juan and Filip unhook from their hug and look over to the space in between the living room and kitchen to see Brandon standing there, his hands shoved in his tattered hoodie pockets. 

“Yeah?” 

“Can I have something to drink please?” 

“Absolutely.” Filip smiles. “Why don’t you sit down?” 

Brandon walks in and takes a seat at the table in what the realtor called a _breakfast nook_ , which was basically just a kitchen table shoved into a small alcove surrounded by windows. “Are you Juan?” He asks quietly.

Juan nods. “Yeah and you must be Brandon.” 

“Yep.”

“Do you mind if I sit down?” 

“It’s your house.” 

“It’s yours, too.” Juan smiles as he pulls out the chair across from him. 

Filip asks Brandon what he wants and then rattles off a list of drinks that they had in their fridge. Brandon opts for orange juice. 

“When Kerrianne gets home we’re going to go out to dinner.” Juan tells him as Filip sets the glass of orange juice in front of Brandon, he hesitantly grabs it and takes a sip. “Would you like to pick where we go?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Filip slides into the seat next to Juan and places a hand comfortingly on his thigh. “What’s your favorite food in the whole world?” He asks. 

Brandon shrugs and takes another drink. “Chicken fingers?” 

“I know a lot of places with chicken fingers.” Filip smiles. “Our daughter, she loves chicken strips, too.” 

“Okay.”

As if on cue, the front door opens and Kerrianne comes walking in, taking her earbuds out as she walked. 

“There she is.” Filip smiles.

“Here I am.” Kerrianne runs her hand through her hair and looks at the kid sitting in her spot at the table. 

“Ker, this is Brandon.”

“Hi.” She smiles, although she’s slightly unsure of how this is all going to work. 

“Hey.” 

“We’re going out for dinner.”

“Can I shower first?” She asks. “I smell horrible and if we’re all getting in your ca—”

“Just don’t take forever.” Filip sighs, he hated to cut her off but this was stressful enough without adding Kerrianne spending an hour in the bathroom.

\\\\\///

While Kerrianne showered, Filip and Juan gave Brandon a tour of the house. He already knew where his room was, it was at the top of the steps, right next to Kerrianne’s, but this was the full tour. He got a quick look at Kerrianne’s room because she left the door open, he was shown where the guest room was and where Filip and Juan’s room was. The bottom was easier as it was an open floor plan. Brandon looked a little overwhelmed, but that was to be expected. 

But now they were packed in Filip’s car and heading to a restaurant. 

Things couldn’t have worked out more perfectly, Brandon had come to them on Tuesday, which meant the next day they were both off and could spend time not only enrolling him in school and getting him prepared, but also getting to know him. From the couple of hours they had spent with him since his arrival, they had learned one thing: he was quiet. It was new for both them, all of their friends were loud, outgoing people. Kerrianne was shy around new people but that only lasted an hour or so. Having a fourth body in their car that wasn’t speaking was bizarre. Although, Filip guessed, even if Brandon was outgoing, the chance of him getting a word in between Kerrianne and Juan talking about sophomore year was slim to none.

Filip parked the car and looked over at Juan and took a deep breath. Kerrianne got out of the car quickly and Brandon followed. 

“They must be hungry.” Juan gives Filip a small smile before opening his own car door and sliding out. 

They walked in, trailing behind Kerrianne, Filip grabbed Juan’s hand and gave it a gentle, assuring squeeze. 

\\\\\///

At first, sitting in a booth with Brandon was a little awkward. He sat across from Juan while Kerrianne sat next to him, but across from her dad. They all looked over their menus quietly. Filip sure as hell had no idea what to say, he was under the impression that Juan would swoop in and save the day, but with his newfound nerves, he figured that was unlikely. So he decided to bring up what they were doing tomorrow; enrolling him in school and picking up his and Kerrianne’s books, then heading to Target to get school supplies and Brandon some new clothes. 

“So you’re going to be in fifth grade, right?” Filip asks. He had decided he was getting ribs the second they got in the car so he didn’t really need to dick around and reread the menu for the eighth time. 

Brandon nods and runs his finger around the excess laminate on the menu. 

“Any idea what you’re going to be learning? It’s been a while since I’ve been in the fifth grade.” 

This time he shrugs. “Math and stuff.”

“Do you like math?” Juan asks.

“No.”

“What’s your favorite subject?”

“I don’t know.” 

This was going fantastically. 

“Do you have any favorite TV shows?” Filip asks, since school wasn’t obviously a topic he cared about, he could try TV.

“Steven Universe.” 

“What’s that about?” 

Brandon starts to explain it and Filip gets lost somewhere between Crystal Gems and Beach City.

The waitress came over in the middle of his explanation and Filip was kind of relieved. He had no idea what he was talking about, it would probably be better to actually watch the show with him instead of trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. But at least he was talking. 

\\\\\/// 

Juan and Filip were standing the doorway of Brandon’s room, watching as he situated his few personal belongings. A photo of his mom and dad, a small stuffed bear, and a couple _How to Train Your Dragon_ figurines. 

“Are you sure you don’t want a story?” Juan asks. 

“I’m not a baby.” Brandon states as he takes his hoodie off. 

“I know, I just wanted to make sure.” Juan smiles. “Our friend Jax writes books and he has some good ones.”

Brandon turns and looks at them. “Can I use the bathroom?” 

“Of course.” Filip tells him. “You don’t have to ask.” 

“There’s some shower stuff in there too, if you need it. We’ll get your own tomorrow while we’re out, if you want.” Juan adds, the lady who taught their class has said that sometimes the kids like to pick out their own stuff if possible, it lets them have some control. 

“Okay.”

“We’re going to go check on Kerrianne and then go to bed, if you need anything our room is right down the hall. Goodnight, Brandon.” Filip tells him as he grabs Juan’s hand just in case he needed to drag him away before he started talking about Jax’s books again. 

“Thanks. Night.” 

\\\\\///

Filip sat on Kerrianne’s bed while Juan sat in her desk chair. She was going through her new purchases, all four and a half bags. 

“I know you’re going to think this is lame, but we’re going to do something as a family after dinner tomorrow.” Filip tells her as she picks an item out of one of the bags and holds it up, tearing the sizing sticker off the front. 

She sighs. “Does it include a workbook?”

Juan laughs. “No, Ker. Probably a board game or something.” 

“Gee wilikers.” She mumbles sarcastically. “That sounds swell.” 

It takes a lot, but Filip doesn’t laugh. Externally, anyway. “I know it doesn’t sound fun, but we’re trying to make him feel a little more comfortable.” 

“Okay well can Janelle stay over on Thursday then?” She asks, her lips moving to make the pouty face that always works on Filip.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea Ker.” Filip tries not to look at her because Kerrianne has the same witchcraft abilities that Jax’s kids have. 

“You guys said that it would be like normal when you got a foster kid.” She sighs and Filip doesn’t want to admit, but she’s actually right. They had told her that not much would change, there would just be one or, occasionally, two extra kids in the house. She could still have friends over and do things like she normally did.

“We’ll talk about it.” Juan looks at Filip and gives him a small smile. “I promise you we will talk about it.” 

\\\\\///

Filip wandered out of the bathroom, lightly scratching at his bare stomach, not exactly surprised by what he saw. Juan was leaning against the headboard with one of their endless amount of Fostering and Adoption books on his lap with a green highlighter in his hand. 

“Think you’ve read that one.” He mumbles as he climbs into bed. 

Juan sighs. “I just blanked, like you’d think I’ve never talked to a person before. Of course he didn't want a bedtime story, he's eleven.”

“The lady said it’s normal to be nervous.” 

“But I shouldn’t be, I’m the one who pushed for this, who read all the books over and over,” He flips the book so Filip could see it. “I’ve highlighted nearly everything, Filly, I’m freaking out.” 

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself.” Filip takes the book gently from his hands and dog-ears the page and sets it on his nightstand. “C’mere.” 

Juan sighs and scoots closer to Filip so he can lay down and cuddle into his chest. “I just want him to feel at home.”

“I know but if you’re freaking out about every little thing he’s going to start freaking out.” Filip rubs lightly at his back. He knew part of the reason Juan was so on edge was because Brandon was so quiet and wasn’t opening up like Juan wanted him to. “It’s going to take some time for him to feel comfortable, I mean he watched his mom get taken out of his house in handcuffs and now he’s living with two dudes, one who he barely understand and the other who is beautiful and smart and wonderful, but is visibly nervous.” 

Juan groans against Filip’s skin. 

“You’ve just got to deal, okay? Not everything has to be perfect all the time.”

“I know I just want it to be.” 

Filip rubs his back quietly for the next couple of minutes, watching as their ceiling fan spins around quickly. “Tomorrow will be better.”


	2. book day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Filip embarrasses Kerrianne, Venus van Dam frightens small children, and everyone's favorite mother stops by to more or less threaten the boys into a baby party.

The morning started at nine a.m. for Filip. He reached out and fumbled with the eighty things on his nightstand until he found his phone and silenced his alarm. During the night, Filip had rolled onto his side and shortly after Juan had cuddled up to him and formed a death grip around his waist, his unshaven face prickling his back. It never seemed to fail, no matter what position they ended up in during the night, they latched onto each other; even if they were in the middle of a disagreement. 

Usually the clinginess wasn’t an issue. Juan woke up earlier most of the time, except on Fridays, so he unhooked himself from Filip and went about his day. But on days like this when Filip wakes up early it nearly takes the Jaws of Life just to allow Filip to get up and take a piss. 

He does it though, it takes a bit of wiggling and quiet mumbles for frustration, but he does it and he makes it to the bathroom before pissing himself. 

\\\\\///

Filip decided that he was going to make something good for breakfast since everyone had to get up early and face the hell that is book day. 

As he looks through the fridge he hears the sound of bare feet padding toward him. It definitely wasn’t Juan because Juan hated the feeling of his bare feet on the tile in the kitchen. He turns around and sees Brandon standing there, looking at him quizzically. He was still in the pajamas he and Juan had laid out for him (a set that they had gotten from Opie and Donna when they told them their plans to foster. Donna was more than willing to hand over Kenny and Ellie’s old stuff since they had gone through a growth spurt. Kenny was younger than Brandon, but the clothes still fit.) 

“Hey.” Filip smiles. “You hungry?” 

Brandon nods. “Kinda.” 

“Any requests?”

Brandon shakes his head. 

“Pancakes?”

“Okay.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Plain.” He stops for second before adding a ‘please’ quickly.

“I can manage that.” Filip grabs the milk from the fridge. “Bacon or sausage?” 

“Either.”

“Eggs?”

“Sure.”

Filip realizes that he can’t pack everything over to the counter, it was like the museum all over again. “You want to come grab this milk for me?”

Brandon walks over and takes the milk from Filip and watches as he pulls out the other ingredients for breakfast. “Where should I put it?”

Filip hands Brandon the package of sausage of links. “Next to the stove.” 

Brandon walks over to the stove and safely sets the items down before wandering back over to the island counter top, standing next to one of the stools. 

“You know, Kerrianne says I make great pancakes.” Filip states as he walks over to where the milk and sausage were sitting. “I can also make a mean omelet according to Juan. Do you like omelets?”

“No.”

“Me either.” Filip states as he starts pulling things out of cabinets. He was going to make a mess, but it was going to be worth it. “Juan likes them when he’s going through his fitness phase. Eats turkey bacon and all that sh—crap. Stuff. Don’t say that word, it’s bad.” 

Brandon lets out the smallest of laughs and Filip feels weirdly accomplished. 

\\\\\///

“Look at my Holly Homemaker.” Juan muses as he walks into the kitchen with a sleepy smile on his face. “What’re you making me?”

“Nothing for you.” Filip teases as he pours the pancake batter into four separate bowls. Plain for Brandon, blueberry for Juan, banana for Kerrianne, and chocolate chip for himself. Sure it was a pain in the ass but it sure beat Kerrianne complaining because her pancakes weren’t flavorful enough. He blamed Fiona for that, everything with her had to be overbearing flavorful. It’s part of the reason he stayed so skinny in his late teens and early twenties, he barely ate because Fiona’s food was _too_ much and he couldn’t cook for shit. After he and Fiona split up Filip enrolled in a ten week cooking class at the technical school in Stockton, easily the best $500 he ever spent. 

Juan playfully scoffs before walking over to the fridge. “Brandon, did you sleep well?”

Brandon nods and takes a drink of his apple juice that Filip had gotten him right before Juan came down. 

“That’s good, we were torn on those beds. Kerrianne said they were comfortable but when Filip and I tested them we thought they weren’t.” 

“Maybe it’s because we’re old.” Filip smiles as he pours a little of the plain batter onto the skillet. 

“I’m not old! I’m twenty eight.”

“Twenty nine.” Filip corrects. “In about two weeks.”

“Still twenty eight for the time being.” 

“Whatever you say.” 

Juan walks over to the stove and scans the counter, making sure his favorite turkey bacon was out, before walking over to Filip and kissing his cheek. “I’ll take care of this, you go get Kerrianne.” 

“You sure?” 

He nods. “My pancakes are better anyway.”

“That’s a lie.” 

\\\\\///

Filip knocks loudly on Kerrianne’s door and waits a minute for opening it a bit and peeking in. Kerrianne was in a blanket cocoon in the center of the bed, like she always was. He smiles and walks over to the bed and sits on the edge and rubs her back lightly. She groans in response. “Go away.”

“It’s time to wake up, Ker.” 

“Five more minutes.” 

Filip lets out a small laugh. “Big day, let’s go.”

She dramatically folds the blanket down so she can peer over her shoulder to see Filip. “I hate book day.”

“You think I like it?” He asks. “It’s even worse when you’re a parent, trust me.”

She rolls over and looks at him. “Did you and Juan talk about Janelle yet?”

“Been a little preoccupied trying to get Brandon settled in.” He tells her. “But, we will talk about it. Have I ever lied to you?”

“Well, you told me Santa Claus was real.”

Filip laughs. “Okay, besides mythical holiday creatures.”

“You told me that I would like that museum you and Juan dragged me to that one time; about spies or whatever it was.”

“To be fair I only said that because Juan was excited. I thought it was lame, too.” 

Kerrianne smiles. “Are you making breakfast?”

“Only little girls that get out of bed get to find out.” Filip tells her as he gets up. 

“I’m fifteen!”

\\\\\///

Breakfast went about as well as dinner went the night before. This time it was a little less awkward. 

The ride to Middle and High School was quick and painless. Everyone was tired, so the silence wasn’t as awkward and Filip got to listen to NPR in peace. 

When they pulled up to the school, an audible groan was heard from the back seat. Kerrianne. 

“Maybe one of your friends are here.” Juan tries to offer some hope as he takes off his seatbelt. 

\\\\\///

Kerrianne got placed in honors choir (which Filip didn’t even know existed, but it did) as well as honors English. Filip was proud and wasn’t ashamed to show it as he pulled her into a hug in the middle of the cafeteria. She was obviously embarrassed, she shoved away from his and did the classic Kerrianne ‘ _Dad! Please._ with a side of scoffing. Filip didn’t care. He would continue to embarrass her until he dies. It’s one of the best parts of being a parent. 

One of her friends, Brooke, was in the cafeteria while they were there, so Filip and Juan decided to let her go find her locker and all of her classes while they signed Brandon up for school. 

That was the plan until the unmistakable sight of Venus van Dam gliding down the hallway with Tig and Venus’ son Joey stumbling behind her caught Filip off guard.

“Salutations!” Her loud voice carried down the hallway, dripping with her sweet southern twang that Filip absolutely adored. “My favorite couple, this must be a sign.” She pulls Filip into a hug, nearly suffocating him. 

“Hello Venus.” Juan smiles.

“Did you two bring Kerrianne to get her books? Where is that little doll? I was going to thank her for her very generous donation to the center.” 

“She’s walking around with Brooke, finding her locker.”

Venus pouts but before she could speak Tig pipes up. “Is there a kid standing behind you?” 

Filip turns to see Brandon attempting to hide behind him. He isn’t surprised, the first time he met Venus he wanted to hide, too. She’s not scary, she’s just very out there. Loud, over the top, her nails could probably be classified as weapons. She’s not what most people are used to, that’s for sure. “Oh, this is Brandon, he came to us yesterday.” 

Venus gasps excitedly, a smile forming on her face before spurting off a long winded outburst that Filip couldn’t really make out other than the phrase ‘sweeter than cherry pie’ or at least that’s what it sounded like. 

“Vee….” It’s Joey’s meek voice coming from behind Tig. “You said we go after you got the school supply list.” 

“Joseph.” She sighs. “Be polite. These people are your family, you should be overjoyed to see them.”

“It’s okay, Venus.” Filip tells her. “We should probably get going, we have to enroll him. It could take a while.” 

She nods. “Of course.”

\\\\\///

After the boys said goodbye to the Trager-van Dam clan, they headed over to the middle school to sign up Brandon. On the way Filip shot Kerrianne a quick text telling her to not wander away and he’d call when they were finished—and she’d better answer. Filip wasn’t big on demanding things, at least not from Kerrianne. He and Fiona had decided early on to treat her like a human and just ask for her to do something. Most of the time it worked, but maybe they were just lucky that Kerrianne only got a snotty attitude sometimes and wasn’t the type to totally disrespect them. 

The meeting with Brandon’s new teacher, Ms. Lee, who taught math and was also his homeroom teacher, was long. They also met the principal, Mr. Cox, and Filip almost laughed at ‘Cox’, luckily he covered it with a cough to save the whole family embarrassment. 

But other than the cough the meeting went well. Apparently Charming Heights Adjacent had quite a few foster and adopted children in their schools (and had several same-sex parent couples, as they pointed out several times), so they were experts at enrolling. Ms. Lee, who told them to call her Shelia, told them that she would keep an eye on his grades and make sure he’s getting access to everything to ‘help him excel’ and she would respond to every e-mail they sent. Juan thought it was kind of cheesy, but was grateful there was a teacher that was going to keep them updated. 

\\\\\///

“Do you think you’re going to have to fight a yuppie mom for a pack of pencils?” Filip asks as the follow Kerrianne into Target. Brandon was trailing a little behind him, obviously a little overwhelmed by the day’s events already. 

Juan laughs. “I hope not, but I’ll do what I have to.”

“Glad you’re up for it. I’m just the cart pusher.” Which was the easiest job. He just had to stand back and watch the cart while Juan helped Brandon pick out his supplies and Kerrianne went off and picked her own since it was more lax for high school. This, he thought, was good karma for taking Kerrianne to the mall. 

\\\\\///

The trip back to the school supply area was littered with children running towards the registers after their parents. Filip was really, really hoping that this meant all of the annoying children had already left. 

Brandon popped a piece of popcorn in his mouth as he walked next to Filip, occasionally looking around the store. Kerrianne insisted that they get a snack because ‘ _oh my God, dad, it smells sooo good._ ’ And he’d be totally lying if he said that didn’t immediately want popcorn when they walked through the door. 

“You excited to get your school supplies?” He asks. Juan and Kerrianne were a couple of feet ahead of them, laughing about something. Filip was really happy they had such a great relationship. 

“I guess.”

“I know, pencils and stuff are kind of lame, but they have folders and stuff with characters on them. I bet they’ll probably have a few you like. That Dragon movie, right?”

Brandon nods. “ _How to Train Your Dragon._ ” 

“I haven’t seen it.” Filip tells him. “Maybe we can all watch it together this weekend? Would you like that?”

Brandon gives a smile. “Yeah!” 

\\\\\///

Filip parked his cart as out of the way as he possibly could and leaned against the cart, watching as Juan looked over the school supply list before heading into the mass of people. 

“Fifty pencils?” Juan exclaims. “What is he going to do with fifty pencils?” 

“They’re for the classroom, weren’t you paying attention in the meeting?” Filip asks. 

“There’s what, twenty three kids in his class? That’s like…” Juan stops to do math, but is quickly reminded that he can’t multiply that high. “A lot of pencils.” 

Filip looks over his own copy of the list. “This is kind of ridiculous.”

“I don’t want to be the one that pisses off the teacher.”

“Of course.” 

“Brandon, we’ll go down the list and get the stuff, I’ll let you pick when there’s an option, okay?”

“Can I cross the things off the list?” Brandon asks quietly.

“Yes, that is a good idea.” Juan smiles and hands him the list and the pen he got when they enrolled Brandon. “And I will take Filip’s list so we can both look. How does that sound?”

“Good.”

Filip hands the list over to Juan. “And I will be right here when your arms get full.”

Brandon and Juan head over to the paper, which was the first thing on the list. 

“You two are so lame.” Kerrianne teases from the end of the cart. 

“Go get your stuff, I don’t want to be in here all night.” 

\\\\\///

The school supply shopping went by quickly, Juan and Brandon made quite the team, grabbing what they needed quickly. Brandon got to pick some stuff out, like the color of his pencil sharpener and the colors of his notebooks and folders. He even found a notebook with one of the dragons on it, which made him extremely happy. 

After that they went and got him some clothes of his own. Sure Kenny’s old ones were just fine and most of them did fit him, but Filip and Juan thought it would be nice for Brandon to pick some stuff out for himself, stuff that was just his. They even found a few posters of some other shows he liked—Thor and the red one—to hang up in his room. They both knew Brandon might not stay with them long, but while he was there they wanted him to feel as at home as possible. 

\\\\\///

Brandon was in his room reading—he had a book report due on the first day, Filip was upset that they’d still make him do it even though he was enrolling late, but the principal said he had to—, Kerrianne was in her room doing whatever it is that she does in there; Filip doesn’t ask. And Juan and Filip were in the kitchen putting the rest of the groceries away, then they’d have to decide what to have for dinner. Filip was hoping they could order out, he didn’t feel like cooking.

“We’re going to have to talk about the Janelle situation.” Filip states as he dumps the contents of the bag on the kitchen island. Juan hated when he didn’t take each thing out individually but Filip hated wasting time. Besides, he only broke a jar of spaghetti sauce once. 

Juan sighs as he grabs the canvas bag with _I <3 my library_ printed on the side and folds it up. “Just let her stay over, I don’t care. Janelle is…not my favorite, but Kerrianne’s been through a lot the past couple of days. Might as well let her have one last sleepover before school starts.” 

“That’s good with me.” 

There’s a loud knock on the door, it’s quick and powerful. Gemma. 

Filip and Juan both freeze in fear. She knows about Brandon. She’s mad they didn’t tell her. 

“You get it.” Filip quickly says, his fingers drumming against the can of corn on the island.

“ _You_ get it.” 

“You’re closer.” 

Juan looks at the door just as another knock comes. “Fucking why.” He throws the canvas bag at Filip and walks slowly towards the door. He was going to get an earful, he could already tell. Gemma was the type of person that needed to be at the center of everything. If someone knew before her, it was the end of the world. 

“Hey baby.” She kisses his cheek only seconds after he opens the door and invites herself in, sliding past him and taking off her sunglasses. 

“Hello Gemma.” 

Gemma sets her purse on the couch just as Filip makes his entrance in the living room. “Hey ma.” 

“You two forget to tell me something?” Always cutting to the chase. 

“Uh?” Juan looks over at Filip.

“You forgot to give me the RSVP card to Wendy and Lyla’s baby’s sex reveal party. It’s this Saturday.” She sighs.

“Oh, shit. You’re right Gem.” Filip lets his body relax a little. Honestly, he had forgotten all about it. “Obviously we’ll be there.”

“Kerrianne, too. We’ve already gone to Babies R Us to get some gifts.”

“What about that kid you two have?”

“Brandon?”

“Yeah. That one.” Gemma crosses her arms. “Were you planning on telling me? Or was I going to be surprised?

“He just came to us, Gem. Tig only knows because he and Venus ran into us at the school.” Filip tries to reason with her, which is usually an impossible task.

“I heard it from Jax.” She tells them.

“Well we didn’t tell Jax. Tig’s the only one that knows.”

“He heard it from Happy.” 

“Gemma, I swear we were going to tell you.” Juan assures her. 

“You’re lucky I love you two.” She purses her lips and gives Filip the signature Gemma glare.

“We love you too, Ma.” Filip smiles.

“Don’t forget to wear pink or blue.” She tells them as she picks her bag up. “I mean it, if you’re not wearing either, you aren’t coming in. I'll see you this weekend.”

**Author's Note:**

> song featured in the first chapter is _Speed the Collapse_ by Metric


End file.
